Apply now for Make a Splash Photo and Video Contest

The contest also seeks to capture the beauty of the landscapes, people, and communities rooted in water power.

By participating in this contest, competitors can help WPTO raise awareness around hydropower and marine energy’s potential to contribute to a carbon-free power grid.

Photo and Video Categories

• Photo Categories
  • Entrants may submit up to 20 photos (total) in the following six photo categories:
    • Conventional Hydropower and Pumped Storage
      • Photos of hydropower facilities or technologies that use a dam or structure to create a difference in elevation and a turbine to convert falling water’s potential energy into electricity. Pumped storage hydropower is also of interest, which is a technology that generates and stores electricity by moving water between two reservoirs at different elevations.
    • Small, Distributed, or Low-Impact Hydropower
      • Photos of facilities or technologies related to small, community-scale, distributed, run-of-river, or conduit hydropower (uses either a turbine to convert the potential energy of falling water or a pressure differential, like a pressurized pipe, to generate electricity). This category also welcomes images of technologies that may help hydropower facilities achieve low-impact hydropower certification, such as fish passage technologies or water quality monitoring systems.
    • Marine Energy
      • Photos showing marine energy technologies, including technologies that generate power from waves, tides, and river and ocean currents; ocean thermal energy technologies; or salinity gradient technologies. Photos submitted should show technologies either in a lab setting, near water in a pre-deployment stage, or in water during deployment/testing. Schematics or computer-generated designs will not be considered.
    • Powering the Blue Economy
      • Photos of subjects and settings related to the various areas of the Powering the Blue Economy Initiative, which focuses on the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems. As an example, photos could feature offshore aquaculture farms, marine transportation, desalination systems, or ocean observing equipment.
    • Faces of Water Power
      • Photos showing the people behind water power technologies, such as professionals employed by the water power sector—e.g., plant operators, maintenance professionals, and researchers— whether in a lab setting or in the field. This category also welcomes photos of students learning or educators teaching about water power.
    • Communities Powered by Water
      • Photos of different communities or individuals that rely on water as a power source. They want to see photos of the people benefitting from water power—from big cities to rural towns and coastal communities—and learn what water power means to them!
  • All photos must be taken within the United States or U.S. territories or be of U.S. technology in a non U.S. territory.
• Video Categories
  • Entrants may submit up to six videos (total) in the following three categories:
    • Clip or Time-lapse: Marine Energy
      • A 30-second or less video or time-lapse (which increases frame rate to reveal the evolution of a series of events) showing marine renewable energy technologies in context. They want to see time pass around this technology through the dynamic movement of the water while the technology anchors the image. Footage in an outdoor/open-water setting (such as in a river or in the ocean) as well as in an indoor setting (such as in a wave tank or flume) is acceptable.
    • Clip or Time-lapse: Hydropower
      • A 30-second or less video or time-lapse showing hydropower technologies in context. They want to see time pass around this technology through the dynamic movement of the water while the technology anchors the image. Footage in an outdoor/open-water setting (such as in a river or in a reservoir) as well as in an indoor setting (such as in a wave tank or flume) is acceptable.
    • Clip or Time-lapse: Faces of Water Power
      • A 30-second or less video or time-lapse showing the people behind water power technologies. This includes clips or time-lapse videos of professionals employed by the water power sector— such as plant operators, maintenance professionals, and researchers—whether in a lab setting or in the field. This category also welcomes clips or time lapses of students learning or educators teaching about water power.
  • All videos must be taken within the United States or U.S. Territories or be of U.S. technology in non U.S territory.

Prize Information

• There will be three awards per category. Reviewers will select the grand prize, second place, and third place winners for each of the nine categories. The following amounts will be awarded to each winner:
  • Grand Prize: $2,000
  • Second Place: $1,000
  • Third Place: $500
• 27 prizes will be awarded from a cash prize pool of $31,500.

Eligibility Criteria

All photos and videos must:

• Be the original work of the photographer and/or videographer or be original work that the competitor has acquired sufficient rights to use and to authorize others.
• Be taken within the United States, U.S. Territories or include a U.S. technology in a non-U.S. territory.
• Be new submissions to the Make A Splash Photo and Video Contest. Artists are welcome to resubmit photos and videos that were not selected as winners in other photography or video contests, including those entered into another DOE contest.
• Photos must be a high-resolution digital copy, minimum size 2100 x 1500 pixels, and maximum 5 MB. Videos must have an aspect ratio of 4:3 or 16:9, a minimum of resolution of 640 x 480 and a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, and be under 100 MB.

Ineligible

A photo or video will be deemed ineligible if it contains the following:

• Children or individuals appearing to be under 18 years of age who do not have parental or legal guardian permission to appear in photos or videos. If an individual appearing to be under the age of 18 does appear in photos or videos, a parent or legal guardian must sign the Model Release form on the minor’s behalf.
• Addresses, license plates, or other personally identifiable information.
• Logos, watermarks, or other business marks that are added to a photo or video through editing. It is acceptable to submit photos and videos of technologies and devices that include the developer’s logo.
• Watermarks, dates, signatures, or copyright images. There should be no signifying mark of the photographer or videographer on the visual.
• Non-U.S. technologies on or in U.S. land or water are allowed. Non-U.S. technologies on or in non-U.S. land or water are not eligible.

For more information, visit U.S. Department of Energy.